Nature of the anodic tellurate wave at the dropping mercury electrode

Tellurate solutions at the dropping mercury electrode show an adsorption type anodic wave in the vicinity of zero volts vs. S.C.E. The presence of this anodic wave is attributed to depolarization of mercury electrode and the formation of an insoluble mercurous tellurate film given by the reaction 2 Hg[deg] + H6TeO6 --> Hg2H4TeO6 + 2H+ + 2e. Under similar conditions an anodic wave is not observed with tellurite, selenate, selenite and arsenate.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/32317/1/0000385.pd